‘3 Idiots’ producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra on Saturday apologised for shouting at a media person when questioned about author Chetan Bhagat’s allegations that he was not given proper credit in the film.
“I really think it was silly. I was provoked as you guys know but I should not have done that. It does not befit me. What I did was silly and I am really sorry,” Chopra told reporters on Saturday.
The press meet of the film crew in Noida turned ugly last night when a journalist said the film was similar to the book.
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When Chopra asked the scribe whether he had read the book, he replied in negative after which the producer asked him to “shut up“.
Chopra’s outburst was objected to by the media. Actor Aamir Khan, who was also there in the press conference, tried to pacify the producer and asked him to apologise but he refused.
Chopra said he realised his mistake after watching the TV footage of his outburst and decided to apologise.
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“Just before the press conference we had met children suffering from cancer. I was very emotional and when the journalist started questioning Rajkumar Hirani (director) and Abhijat Joshi (scriptwriter) about this man (Chetan Bhagat), I could not control myself because Hirani is a very nice human being. But I really feel bad for what I did. In future, I will try to control my anger,” he said.
When asked whether he would like to clear the issue with Bhagat, an angry Chopra said, “I don’t want to see his face for the rest of my life. He did what he did with very bad intentions.”
The whole controversy started when Bhagat, the author ’Five Point Someone’, the book from which the film has been adapted, accused the film-makers for not giving him due credit in the movie, which was released this Christmas.
Aamir, who plays the lead in the movie, reacted sharply to Bhagat’s allegations, accusing him of being hungry for “cheap publicity”. Aamir accused Bhagat of trying to take away the credit from the scriptwriter Abhijat Joshi, who the star said was working on the story for three years.
In his response, Bhagat called Khan and the film-makers “uncivilised people” and rejected allegations that he was hankering for publicity. “They are making a fool of themselves,” he said.